Over the Handlebars
by Converse r life
Summary: Elsa never learned how to ride a bicycle, and Anna is all too eager to teach her. However, something's may be better left in the past.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hi everyone! This is my second Frozen fanfic, and it's still continuing. It might be a three part, or two part, I haven't decided yet. Anyway, here's the first chappy, hope you guys like it! Don't forget to review; more reviews, quicker updates! :) **_

_****Notes: I did take some historical liberties with the chapter. Here they are:  
**_

_**1. Everywhere I looked said that training wheels where made around 1950. I put them in this time period, because hey, it's Disney. **_

_**2. I doubt that pink and white bikes with sparkly tassels with white baskets with a daisy painted on them existed in this time period. But I thought it was cute, so why not?**_

DONT FORGET TO REVIEW! 

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"…then I totally flew! Okay, well not like,_ actual_ flying, like the kind birds do, but I was definitely in the air for more than thirty seconds! That's gotta be some type of record, like seriously, history books should _definitely_ mention me as that girl who was airborne for, like, ever!"

Elsa lent a tiny bemused smile to her younger sister. Anna's adventures of the day never ceased to amaze. Listening to the princess in person, rather than behind a closed door, always made the day seem just a bit brighter.

A snort drew the reigning queen's attention away from her sister, and onto the man beside her. "It was ten seconds, _at most_."

Anna twisted in her seat, turning so that she frown at the young man. "Nuh-uh! I was _definitely_ flying for a minute!"

"You were?" Kristoff cocked his head to the side, regarding the princess derisively. Anna nodded eagerly. "Yeah, and I'm a people-person. Liar."

"_I'm_ not lying!" Anna declared, offended. "_You're_ lying! Besides, what do _you_ know?"

Kristoff looked actually insulted. "I know that you didn't fly for, what is it up to now, a minute? That's _impossible_."

"Okay, you know what?" Anna huffed, shrewdly gazing at him. "I'm just not going to deal with you right now, because you _obviously_ hit your head way too hard after I landed on you and don't even know what you're talking about."

"Whatever you want to believe." Kristoff replied, smirking slightly to himself.

Anna narrowed her eyes at him, mumbling as she turned away, "I _so_ did."

"You '_so'_ didn't," Kristoff returned, causing Anna to turn back around faster than one could say whiplash.

"I _did_!"

"No, you didn't," he deadpanned to her accusatory tone.

"Did too!"

"Did not."

"Did too times infinity!" Anna declared, puffing out her chest slightly in pride. Then, she decided to add, just to be safe, "Plus _one_."

"You didn't, Anna, get over it." Kristoff answered, rolling his eyes. "No one can stay up in the air for that long. It's _impossible_."

"Well, I think you can, and I'll prove it!" Anna decided, nodding her head at her astoundingly brilliant idea. "I just need someone who's like, book smart, and they'll tell you that it's possible. Now, who's like, really good at being all library smart?"

She slumped back in her seat a moment, a fissure appearing between her two brows as she thought hard. Kristoff stabbed his fancy steak with (what he hoped was) a dinner fork, shoving a large piece in his mouth. He was just about to say that there was no way the princess could find someone like that on such short notice, when Anna shot up, gasping loudly.

"I know!" She snapped her fingers together, delighted in how perfect her idea was. She twisted the other way in her seat now, eyes shining like suns. "Elsa!"

"Sure, your _sister_ isn't gonna be biased," Kristoff grumbled, taking another large bite of his steak.

The young queen, startled out of her thoughts, stiffened. She'd tuned out the banter from Kristoff and her sister, used to their petty arguments by now. Although it wasn't often that the ice harvester was dragged to dinner, he spent a considerable amount of time around the palace, and by default, around Anna.

"Yes?" She replied, haltingly.

Anna smiled sweetly at her, too sweet. It was the kind of smile that made the queen do un-queenly things, like staying up well into the night. She was good at being a proper lady, but she was only human too; even the best were worn down by the princess eventually.

"Elsa, you're really smart, and pretty, and amazing, and—"

"Buttering her up isn't fair!" Kristoff complained, and Elsa, blushing at the compliments, looked over at him. He caught her gaze, and ducked his head, embarrassed. "Um…not that she's not being not truthful, your majesty, because you're obviously, uh, everything, and um…"

"Elsa, if you love me, like, _really_ love me, then you should totally agree with me that when you're riding your bike, and you hit something, you can go over the handlebars and fly for like, two minutes!"

"You can't," Kristoff mumbled, under his breath. Anna elbowed him in the ribs, hard enough that he winced.

"Soo?" Anna wondered, scooting her chair closer to her older sister. "You agree with me, right Elsie?" She gave what, she considered, a very good puppy dog pout, and combined with her sister's childhood nickname, she was positive she had it in the bag.

However, things don't always go as planned.

Elsa drummed the pads of her fingers on the table. Then she reached over, slowly, deliberately, and took a long sip out of her glass of wine. Beside her, Anna looked ready to explode.

"Come on already!" Her sister whined, realizing that the queen was drawing this out purposely. The platinum blonde gave a soft laugh.

"Alright," she started, pausing for effect, "I _suppose_ it's possible."

Anna pumped a fist in the air, cheering. "_Yes_! I knew it!"

"She didn't say it was for _sure_, feistypants." Kristoff said, rolling his eyes at Anna's obvious selective hearing.

In response, the princess once again twisted in her seat so that she could stare him down with all the intimidation a girl of her stature held. "Kristoff, didn't you ever go over the handlebars of your bike as a child? And isn't it just the teensiest bit plausible that when you did, you flew for like, five minutes?"

"Uh, no." Kristoff shrugged, shaking his head. "Ma was scared enough that I was going to break all of my "fragile human bones", so I had to be careful, otherwise she wouldn't have even let me _keep_ my bike."

"Ok, well," here Anna huffed in annoyance, turning back to her sister for backup, "What about _you_, Elsa? Didn't you ever pedal as fast as you could on your bike, hit something out of nowhere (which, by the way, was _so _not your fault), and then just go _over_ the handlebars and literally _fly_ for like a good ten minutes?"

Elsa regarded her sister in with faint amusement. "As I said earlier, I suppose that such a feat is possible."

"But that's not an answer!" Anna complained.

Beside her, Kristoff smirked in apparent victory. "Just admit it Anna, you're wrong and I'm right."

"No!" Anna would have stamped her foot, had she been standing. "_I'm_ right! Just gimme a minute, I'll prove it to you!"

"Take all the time you need," Kristoff grinned, knowing full well that there was no way he could lose this battle.

In the midst of their conversation, the queen absently reached for her wine again. From the corner of her eye, the princess caught the movement and turned back around. Thinking fast, Anna snatched the glass out of her grip.

"What the—?!" Elsa managed, through her shock. Triumphantly, the younger girl held the glass close to her chest, determination spread across her features.

"No wine until you give me a _real_ answer!" She declared, sticking her tongue out.

"Anna," the queen started, her voice dangerously calm. An eyebrow started to curl upwards, and her lips were pressed into a fine line. "Give me back my wine."

"Uh…Anna…" Kristoff elbowed the girl next to her, warily noticing that frost was starting to spread out across the table, from where the queen's hand was resting.

"Answer the question, a real yes or no answer, and I'll give you back your wine." Anna answered her sister, cupping her two hands around the glass. She looked up at the queen's narrowed eyes, grinning. "C'mon Elsa, all you gotta do is just agree with the right person (cough cough, _me_)! Just say 'yes, you_ can_ fly over your bike's handlebars for more than ten minutes, I did it all the time' and I'll give you back your wine. See how easy it is? Do you need me to repeat that? 'Cause I can definitely—"

"Anna," Elsa cut her off, impatiently. Her humor was running thin, and her sister was walking a short wire. If there was one thing she looked forward to, it was her glass of wine after a long day.

"Oh! Did you come up with an answer? What is it, what is it! Tell me, tell me, tell me!" Practically bouncing in her seat now with excitement, Anna leaned in, taking little notice of the ever growing frost gathering on the table. "You're going to say 'yes you can, I know because I did it once I learned how to ride a two-wheeler and I'm so smart and that's why Anna's right', right? _Right_?"

Laughing at her own cleverness, Anna pressed the cup to her lips, forgetting that it wasn't her water. She turned to Kristoff, ready to start smirking. Elsa's eyes became a blizzard at the sight of her sister. Before she could think things through, she was slamming her palms against the table.

"For goodness sake, Anna, I _don't_ _know_ if you can or not!" Elsa finally exploded, the entire tabletop turning into a sheen of pure ice at her shout, and Anna spitting out the wine in her mouth directly onto Kristoff.

"Wait, _what_?" She asked in surprise, and confusion, ignoring Kristoff's complaints next to her about how disgusting it was that he was covered in her spit.

Elsa sighed in annoyance, tapping a nail against the icy surface of the table, while Anna nervously (and forgetfully) pressed the wine against her lips once more. "Seeing as how I never learned to ride a bike without the help of training wheels, I cannot say if you're right or not."

Anna spat out the wine again, for a second time all over Kristoff.

He turned to look at her with incredulity in his now dripping blonde hair falling into his brown eyes. "Seriously? _Again_?!"

"Anna, I'd thank you to stop wasting my favorite wine on Kristoff," Elsa stated, reaching over and wrestling the glass away from her sister's limp hand. She looked into the glass, and woefully noticed that it was nearly all gone.

"Yeah, really, let's _not_ spit on Kristoff anymore, okay?" The mountain man mumbled, grabbing the napkin to at least wipe off his face.

Anna gave him an exasperated look, before turning back to her sister. "How could you have never learned to ride a bike, Elsa? We _had_ a bike!"

Elsa sighed, still obviously annoyed, and purposely steering clear of the first question. "No, Anna, _you_ had a bicycle."

"Nu-uh!" Anna replied, scrunching up her nose in thought. "I had my _regular_ bike, but then I begged Mama and Papa for a tandem bike for my ninth birthday so you'd see it, get really excited, and then leave your room to ride it with me! That was _our_ bike!"

"'_Our_' tandem bicycle that I never rode, yes?" Elsa pointed out dryly, watching as Anna's face clouded over with memories.

"Okay, well, maybe you didn't really ride _our_ bike," Anna admitted, frowning at her old recollections. "But you did have your own! Remember? It was pink and white, and it had sparkly tassels, and a basket with a daisy painted on it, and oh! I was so jealous, I always wanted to ride it, but it didn't have training wheels, and by the time Papa taught me how to ride without them, I got a new bike..."

Lost in her reminiscing, Elsa ignored her sister, and took a final sip of what was left of her wine. She mentally debated calling over a servant to pour her more, but considered against it. It was best not to appear like this was at all affecting her.

"If you never learned how to ride a two-wheeler, Elsa, how come your bike didn't have training wheels?" Anna suddenly questioned, putting two and two together quickly.

A lump formed in Elsa's throat. She pushed it down, pushed down all those old feelings, pretending they didn't exist. She used her calm, practiced voice to say, "I haven't the faintest idea what you may be referring to."

Anna looked at her like she was crazy. "Elsa, it was _your_ bike. You gotta know something about it! I mean, you had it even _before_ you locked yourself away!"

"Are you questioning your queen?" Elsa hissed, knowing that she was using a spiteful technique. But Anna's questions were treading too close to the truth, and there were things she'd rather that stay in the past.

"No, I'm asking my sister," Anna replied back, a bit of a bite to her words. More than anything she hated to be treated as one of the queen's subjects. "I just don't see the big deal. It's just a bike, it's not like your trying to hide your magic or anything."

It was meant to come out jokingly, but somehow, there was a heaviness attached to those words. Elsa gave a fleeting wince, and Anna cringed slightly. Okay, so apparently two months was still too soon.

"I don't have to have to say anything," it was childish, and ridiculous, but Elsa found herself saying it anyway. Beside her, Anna just seemed to get riled up.

"You're shutting yourself off again!" Anna accused, pointing a finger at her sister.

Elsa brushed it aside, saying calmly, "You have no right to question my judgment."

"I can't believe you're doing this to me again, over a stupid _bike_ Elsa!" Anna half yelled, half complained, her tone still accusing.

"There's more to things then meets the eye, Anna, leave it alone." Elsa sighed in frustration, looking longingly back at her empty wine glass.

"Fine, whatever. I'll drop it." Anna replied, picking up her fork and knife stiffly, with obvious anger.

"Thank you," Elsa returned, relief evident in her tone. She pushed back a wayward strand of hair, and attempted to lighten the mood. "What else did you do today?"

Anna threw down her utensils, huffing out angrily, "Why won't you just tell me what's up with your old bike? Did you fall or something and refuse to ever ride again? Because I did that when I first learned, and it's not a big deal."

Elsa gave an annoyed sigh, realizing that Anna was incapable of letting the subject go. While her reasoning was wrong, it did provide an easy way to get out of this matter. "Fine, yes, Anna, I fell as a child and never rode again."

"Oh." Anna nodded, jumping on the idea quickly. "That's not a big deal, you don't have to shut me out for something that _dumb_, Elsa."

"Can we leave the subject now? Please?" Elsa asked, desperate now to change the matter of which they were speaking. She hated lying, but there were some cases where she _had _to, in order to keep her sanity.

"Ooh, you know what?" Anna said thoughtfully, ignoring whatever her sister had wanted. "Maybe _that's_ why Papa didn't let me quit after I fell the first time and said I'd never ride again. You know, 'cause you had already quit and he didn't want to like, not do well again."

A guilty lump appeared in Elsa's throat this time, so different from the sad one she had experienced earlier before. "Anna—"

"It's okay, you know what? _I'll _teach you how to ride a bike!"

Horror was the only emotion Elsa was able to obtain. The ice, that had started melting off the table, started to gather again. "You _what_?"

"Yeah! I mean, so you fell once as a kid, big deal. I'll get you doing tricks and everything, don't worry, I'm a _great_ teacher!" Anna declared, ignoring Kristoff's snort and mumble about how Elsa would be better off fighting off a dozen snow monsters.

"No, Anna. I am _not_ learning to ride a bike. _You_ are not teaching me to ride a bike." Elsa stated, trying to be firm, despite the shakiness she felt. Her memories were more than a dozen years old, why did it still terrify her?

"But—"

"I said, _no_!" Elsa shouted, finally giving up on reasoning with her sister. This time, not only did the tabletop re-freeze, but icy spikes grew out of the walls.

Frustrated, annoyed, hurting, and so much more, Elsa pushed herself away from the table. She offered no excuse for her departure—she was the queen, who cared what propriety thought? She was halfway to the door, each step creating ice under her foot, when she heard Anna's voice call after her.

"You barely touched your dinner!"

It was concern and kindness that marked Anna's tone. A part of the queen, a hungry part, reminded her how ridiculous this all was and that she should sit back down and explain. Another part of her, the one that screamed 'conceal, don't feel' reminded her of the past. It was with the second one's echo that she continued to walk straight out of the dining hall, shoulders back, and never looking at her sister behind her.

A few beats passed before Kristoff gave a low whistle, his eyes trailing over the icy wonderland that had become the dining hall. "I think you made Elsa mad."

Anna frowned, her eyebrows knitting together in surprise. "What gives you that idea?"

Somewhere in the castle, a door slammed so hard that the echo reached the young couple left behind in the dining room.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Well, here's the second chapter. I'm on a roll with this fanfic I tell you! I can't seem to stop writing, so I might be able to post another chapter tonight. Who knows? Maybe I'll even finish it by tomorrow! **_

_**Oh, and I see you favoriting. I know you like this story. Start reviewing, or I'll find you favoriters. And I'll...well, I'll probably do nothing, but let's pretend I will! **_

_**Thank you to Alese222, Ravager Zero, lightning1997, and Graystripe64 for the reviews so far!**_

_**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW.**_

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A week passed, and with it, so did a week of very little conversations between the queen and her sister. Elsa was far too proud to apologize for her disruptive, and possibly harmful behavior. Anna just wasn't sure how to say sorry to the sister she'd spent thirteen years away from.

It was in this week, however, that Anna developed a rather ingenious plan. Rather than having to say she was sorry, why didn't she just show it? Kristoff thought she was crazy, but Olaf and Sven were on her side, so he was outnumbered.

When everything in her idea was set, there was only one thing left. And, unfortunately, that was the hardest part. But Anna was nothing if not the master of invention when it came to distracting her sister.

"Okay, one more time, Olaf," Anna repeated, huffing in annoyance. "You go tell Elsa that I got hurt. Make it sound bad, like I'm bleeding out everywhere. Then Elsa will come out, see her surprise, and she'll be happy!"

"And _then_ will she give me a warm hug?" Olaf asked, blinking his big eyes in wonder.

"Yes, Olaf, _then_ she'll give you a warm hug!" Anna declared, much to the little snowman's delight.

"Yeah, and then right after she'll create another snow monster to show us just how much she loves her gift." From somewhere in the background, Kristoff snorted, his sarcasm unmistakable.

Anna turned to give him an annoyed look. Olaf, however, clapped his twig arms together in delight and giggled. "Oh, a little brother! I miss Marshmallow. We never got to bond."

"I'll say," Kristoff grumbled.

"Kristoff, I hear a lot of talking, but I don't see a lot of red-bow-tying," Anna called, sticking out her tongue when the ice harvester sent her a look.

"You know, this isn't as easy as it looks!" He complained, struggling with too big fingers that weren't nimble enough.

"Then get Sven to help you!" The princess said, and the reindeer perked up at his name, immediately lending an antler to help with the process. "See? I bet he knows how to tie a bow!"

"Yeah, but you know what Sven doesn't have? Thumbs." He answered back, and Anna laughed to herself, despite the reindeer's deadpanned look to his buddy. Kristoff gave the animal an incredulous look. "What? I'm just pointing out the obvious!"

"Aww, you guys are so cute, being all lovey dovey!" Olaf sighed, and Anna smiled. While the little snowman could get on her nerves, he was very sweet.

"As long as I'm stuck with him, might as well make the best of it," Anna giggled to the snowman, and while he giggled back, she was sure that he didn't really understand the joke.

She smoothed over her features, but couldn't keep the smile away. "Alright, Olaf. You know what to do?"

"Got it!" The snowman saluted her with one of his twig arms, the other one adjusting his carrot nose. "You can count on me, Anna!"

"Thanks, Olaf!" Beaming, the princess watched as he waddled off back into the palace. Smiling fondly, she stood up, brushing the dirt from the courtyard off of her dress.

"You're not doing it right," 'Sven' said, and Kristoff grunted, still struggling with the task he had been given.

"Yeah well, what do you know," he muttered out the side of his mouth, as one of his grubby fingers left a grease mark on the ribbon.

"Sven's right, you're really bad at this." Anna came up beside him, looking at his handy work, or lack thereof, with a pitiful expression.

Kristoff glared at her. "Listen, princess, I can do knots, you know, so that I don't _die _falling off a mountain."

"I can do knots too! _And_ I can make pretty bows." She pushed him away, taking over the task of undoing the mess he'd made and retying it. "I'm like, a renaissance woman, or something."

"What the heck is a renaissance woman?" Kristoff wondered, leaning against Sven as she un-looped the ribbon from around his antler.

"It means that I'm a complete and totally awesome person," Anna answered with a quick grin thrown in his direction.

He regarded her shrewdly. "Okay, what does it _really_ mean?"

Anna sighed to herself. "You have so little faith in me, Kristoff. It's heartbreaking."

"Anna." He deadpanned her name, causing her to huff.

"Okay, okay, I don't actually know what it means. Elsa said something about that once, and I thought it sounded pretty, so I'm just gonna decide on a new—Sven, can you put your antler here for a sec?—a new definition that works for _me_."

"You can't do that," Kristoff said, smirking at her attempt to create a new lexicon.

"I can do whatever I—thanks Sven, that's good—whatever I want." Anna retorted, putting her hands on her hips. "Ta-da! See? It wasn't _that_ hard."

"Okay, try making a butterfly loop knot and _then_ talk to me," Kristoff grumbled once more, grousing that he wasn't able to complete something so silly.

"I don't understand all your mumbo jumbo made up knots Mr. Official Ice Harvester and Deliverer of Arendelle." Anna returned, draping an arm around Sven.

"That's still not a thing." He reminded, but she ignored him, turning to the reindeer instead.

"You know what, Sven? Reindeers are better than boyfriends." Ignoring Kristoff's 'hey!', she tickled her fingers under his muzzle. "You're a good boy, yes you are, yes you are…"

"Seriously, what did I say about sweet-talking the reindeer? He's a strong, hardworking, ice-harvesting, killing machine!"

Both Anna and Sven gasped, with Anna wrapping both her arms around the animal tightly. "No, he's not! He's an _adorable_, charming, handsomest, and pleasantly delightful!"

Sven snuffled happily, into Anna's strawberry-blonde hair. She laughed, the sound muffled by her hug into his fur. Kristoff looked incredulously, from his best friend, to his girlfriend.

"…oh yeah?" Kristoff cocked his head, and Anna nodded, still hugging Sven. Without a word, he grinned mischievously, and grabbed her waist, pulling her away with a surprised screech.

"Kristoff, put me down! Put me down!" She screamed in delight, laughter echoing every word. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, in an attempt not to fall.

"I wonder how you'll feel after a dip into the fountain…" Kristoff grinned, taking a few cursory steps in that direction. Anna screamed again, her arms tightening around him.

"No! No, please don't!"

"Who's the handsomest now?" He wondered, despite her protests. When Anna didn't answer right away, he took a few more steps, and she went wide eyed with terror.

"You are! You are! Don't dunk me in the fountain! _Please_, Kristoff! I'll do anything!"

"_Anything_?" Kristoff repeated, suggestively wagging his eyebrows. If Anna noticed, she gave no indication, still staring straight ahead at the fountain.

"Yes! Anything!"

"…does that include kissing?" He wondered, and as the thought hit Anna, she blinked, before looking at him.

"If I kiss you, will you _not_ throw me into the fountain?" She asked tentatively, figuring out where he stood on all this.

Kristoff grinned. "Yep. That's how it goes."

Anna nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "That's awesome, 'cause I've heard I'm good at that." She smiled, and without warning, smashed her mouth against his.

Elsa rubbed her eyes, sighing as she leaned back in her too comfortable chair. People thought being a ruling monarch was easy. Her favorite books, like King Arthur, detailed being a ruler as a fun job, all fighting off the bad guys and being loved. Basically, one could just sit down and tell everyone else what to do.

_Well_, she scoffed rather cynically, _I'd like to see them write a book about the truths of being a queen. Paperwork galore, a never-ending line of questions, very little sleep…_

Guiltily, Elsa stopped her train of thoughts. Alright, maybe the 'little sleep' was because she was still sore over her argument with Anna a week prior. Her eyes wandered to the window, and she sighed.

"Maybe I should be the bigger person," she muttered to herself, realizing what was beautiful day it was. "After all, Anna's still the baby…"

Sighing, Elsa shook her head. Though it weighed her heart to know she and her sister were, once again, not getting along, she figured it was something she could think about later. Right now, there was an incredibly important trade report with—

A series of knocks broke Elsa out of her thought process. She looked up, slightly puzzled. "It's open," she called out.

A second later, the study door was opened. The queen found her eyes searching for a normal sized person, and then slowly slinking down when she found none. A giggle brought her eyes even further down, onto…

"Olaf?" Elsa wondered, as the little snowman waddled towards one of the seats across from her desk.

"Hi, Elsa!" He said cheerfully, wiggling as he finally sat down. "What'cha doin'?"

"Work. Lots of work." Elsa answered, smiling slightly at the cheerful little snow person. If anyone could lift her spirits, and Anna was unavailable, Olaf was the next best thing.

"Ooh." Olaf nodded, frowning. "Well, that's no fun!"

"Such is the life of a queen," Elsa replied, her smile losing its humor. She stretched out her back, interlocking her fingers and pushing her arms out forward. "Why don't you go find Anna? I'm sure she'd be a lot more fun than me right now."

"I can't go to Anna because she sent me to get you!" Olaf declared, getting off of the seat and coming around to pull at Elsa's arm.

"Wait, she sent _you _to get_ me_?" Raising an eyebrow in suspicion, Elsa finally put down the trade report, giving her full attention to the snowman.

"Yep!"

"Olaf, is Anna kissing Kristoff somewhere she's not supposed to again?" Elsa wondered, very careful on how she phrased that question.

Her sister thought she was sneaky, but more than once the queen had to send the snowman or some servant to walk into a room so the couple's hands stayed away. It was cringe-worthy and embarrassing, but Elsa refused to allow them any slack, not unless they were married, and that was _not _going to be happening any time soon.

"No, they're in the courtyard with your surprise!" Olaf answered, still trying to tug at Elsa's arm.

The young queen furrowed her eyebrows. "My surprise? What surprise?"

"You know, your_ surprise_!" Olaf giggled again, before looking Elsa up and down, realizing she had no clue what he was talking about. "The surprise that Anna got hurt and is bleeding all out over!"

If Elsa could pinpoint all the important moments in her life when her heart dropped, this would be high on that list.

"Wait, _what_?" There was a faint drumming sound in Elsa's ears, one that was starting to grow in intensity.

"…and yeah! The whole thing! So you've gotta come!" Olaf started tugging at her arm again, but this time, Elsa grabbing him, her fingers digging into his snowy flesh.

Above her head, snow started to fall. It was hard to distinguish the one coming from Olaf's cloud to the one caused by her. "Olaf! Anna, what's wrong with Anna?"

"Didn't you just hear me?" Olaf wondered, blinking in confusion. "I _said_, that Anna is hurt and bleeding out everywhere! C'mon Elsa, you gotta start paying attention."

Anna. Hurt. Bleeding.

The same three words were repeated again and again in her head. Like her previous mantra of 'conceal, don't feel', she couldn't get the words out of her mind. Every horrible scenario flashed before her eyes, and without warning, Elsa was pushing herself out of her seat.

"Hey! Elsa! Wait up!" Olaf called after her, as she suddenly ran out of the room.

Terror was the adrenaline that spurred her on. She sprinted past her staff, ignoring the odd looks that were thrown at her. Her skirt was grabbed in two fistfuls, and though she could barely see her servants as she barreled past them, somehow she managed to find Kai.

"Your majesty?" He questioned as she nearly skidded past him. Obviously, it was her sister he was used to running about, not the queen.

"Anna…where is…Anna…" She gasped out, barely able to string a sentence together.

"The courtyard..." Kai answered, a bit hesitantly. He wasn't quite sure if the queen had all of her senses at the moment. "Majesty, forgive me, is everything alright?"

His words were lost to the wind. Elsa was already running in the direction of the courtyard. A frowned for a moment, before shrugging it off. Ever since the gates had opened, there were many things that he'd learned to simply go with the flow.

"Elsa…where is…Elsa…" Another wheezing voice came to Kai, asking a similar question from just a moment before.

"Courtyard." Kai answered the little snowman, who nodded up at him, before running as fast as his snowy legs could carry him.

Anna. Hurt. Bleeding.

The mantra didn't end in her mind, or rather, it refused to end in her mind. There were screams, possibly in her head, but they sounded a bit like they were coming from the courtyard.

She ducked her head down and barely had enough time for her servants to push open the doors for her. She raced down the steps, her feet touching solid ground. Her breathing erratic, she forced herself to come to a halt when she saw Kristoff.

Kristoff who was kissing Anna.

Kristoff who was kissing an uninjured, happy looking Anna.

"Elsa!" Her name was the thing that made three heads pop up, two of them guiltily. "You gotta…be…slower."

"Olaf, you said Anna was _hurt_." Elsa wheedled around, her eyes narrowing on the snowman.

"Oh, yeah, that's 'cause I told him to say that, so that I could get you out here!" Anna's voice floated in, as Kristoff placed her feet back on the ground. Elsa turned back to her sister, relief and anger flashing in her blue eyes.

"Let me get this straight," Elsa started, her pulse started to raise again in anger. "You sent Olaf to tell me that you were _hurt_ and _bleeding_, when you weren't, to get me to come to the courtyard."

"Um…I mean, I guess if you want to look at the glass half empty, that maybe I might have tried to get you out here by sending Olaf to, I don't know, exaggerate the truth…" Anna gulped, leaning away from Elsa's disbelieving stare.

"I just ran from my _study_ to _here_, thinking you were in some sort of trouble! Do you know how _worried_ I was? I thought…Anna…" Without warning, Elsa grabbed her sister, pressing her close, trying to still her concern with the thought that everything was fine.

"Oh, jeez." Anna sighed, suddenly feeling an enormous sense of guilt. It wasn't often that Elsa was the one who initiated a hug; she must have really been terrified. "Hey, but look, I'm alright. Everything's okay, I promise I won't pull that on you again."

"Don't you ever _dare_." Elsa's concern was starting to turn into anger, and she pulled away from the hug, frost gathering in her clenched fists. "Do you even realize how irresponsible that was, Anna? What if you had actually been hurt?! What if—"

"Psst, Anna, I don't know if now's a good time, but Sven is trying to lick Elsa's surprise." A stage whisper from Olaf caught Elsa off guard, and she noticed Anna whipping her head back for a moment, before immediately standing in her line of vision.

She narrowed her eyes. "What surprise?"

Anna gave a nervous laugh, suddenly realizing that perhaps her plan hadn't been thought out all that well. "Okay, so remember how a couple of days ago you got all bent out of shape over not riding a bike—I mean, it was mostly my fault 'cause I kept pushing you, but whatever, you were the one who started yelling, and remember how I said I would teach you to ride a bike and you said you didn't want to? WellIsortofgotyouabike!"

Elsa blinked, furrowing her blonde eyebrows. "I'm confused."

"Okay, okay," Anna said, trying to calm herself down. "Just…just be cool, okay? I mean, you're technically always cool, 'cause your body temperature is like, freezing, but, I mean, just don't flip out or anything. And remember that there's only one heir right now and that's me so you sort of gotta be nice and not kill me, okay?"

"Anna, I don't—" The princess moved out of the way, grinning sheepishly.

Right behind her, the first thing Elsa's eyes were drawn to, was a giant red bow.

The second thing she saw was the bicycle the bow was tied onto.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Another chapter for you all! This one is the longest yet (it was eleven pages!), so sorry, or so happy depending on how you look at it. It's not the end yet, however. I'm estimating another chapter, or two, and this will be finished. It's slowly taking over my life however, so I'll be glad to finish it. **_

_**Keep reviewing guys! I get so excited when I see a new review, it just makes my day. **_

_**So far, there are more historical inaccuracies in this chapter. Whoops. There's a lot, like the word two-wheeler, and well, other stuff. Just roll with it. **_

_**Oh, and thanks to: A, xJadeRainx, Alese222, Jenny, snoopykid, Bluefire407, Guest, and AznMelody5678 for your reviews on the last chapter!**_

_**REVIEW.**_

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"…wow." She managed to squeak, having lost the rest of her ability to speak. Anna's grin turned into an excited smile, her head whipping back between the bike and her sister.

"Isn't it just amazing? Right? Right?" The princess started to bounce up and down, completely head over heels that her surprise was, so far, doing a fairly good job.

"How did you…when did you…" Elsa found herself incapable of the vast vocabulary she'd acquired through years of reading and ruling. She bit down on her lip, trying to calm the swell of tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.

Before her was one of the best gifts she'd ever received. A bicycle, but it was so much more than that. It was a light blue, shiny, reminiscent of the ice she was able to create. The wheels were stark white, and painted sporadically across the bike frame were snowflakes, each one different in some way. There was a basket that had been painted white as well, one intricate snowflake painted upon it.

"I _told_ you she'd love it," Anna's voice broke Elsa out of her reverie, and she looked up to see her sister smiling smugly at the mountain man.

"I never said she wouldn't like it," Kristoff answered, his voice mumbling. "I just said that maybe it wasn't the best idea…"

"Go on, touch it, Elsa! It's yours!" Olaf cheerfully started pushing her from behind, and the queen, walking in a daze, actually found herself pulled to the beautiful thing.

"It's mine…" She repeated softly to herself, running her hand all over the fine craftsmanship.

She recognized the blacksmith's work, as well as the court painter's. There were a few Anna touches, however, namely the misshapen snowflake on the handlebars. The thought of it made the bicycle even more special.

"Look, see, it even has a bell!" Demonstrating, Anna pushed the bell down, letting it ring. "Oh! And the best part is the tassels! Aren't they just gorgeous? I think it really brings the whole bike together, don't you?"

She was right, Elsa had to admit, the sparkly tassels were probably the best part, however childish they may be. "It's all very wonderful…thank you, everyone, really. It's a great surprise. And thank you, Sven, for not licking the snowflakes off."

"Well see, here's the thing, the surprise doesn't end here!"

_That_ was a cause for alarm. Elsa whirled around, suspicion filling her features as she looked from Anna, to Kristoff, to Olaf, to Sven. Everyone seemed doubly excited for this next "surprise", counting out Kristoff, of course. He was looking at her apologetically, as though trying to convey that Anna had dragged him into this and he wasn't at fault for any of this.

"What else is there?" She finally asked, wary. Her fingers curled around the bike pleasantly, the cold metal a relief in the warm end-of-summer air.

"I'm gonna teach you how to ride a two-wheeler!"

Elsa's heart lurched, one of the handlebars turning to ice beneath her fingers. Somewhere in her gut, a feeling of panic started to rise. Keep calm, keep calm…she tried to breathe out slowly, in order to keep her composure.

"No, thank-you." She didn't meet Anna's eyes—she didn't have to see her to hear her sister sigh. "It's a nice gift, but I would rather not learn how to ride it."

"See, I thought you might say that, so decided to be one step ahead!" Her smile rather evil, Anna pulled out something from the bike basket, brushing off some of the ice tendrils that had covered it.

"A box? You think I'm going to change my mind, over a box?" A delicate platinum eyebrow raised up, regarding the thing in Anna's hand. Her smile only grew more mischievous.

"Of course not!" She waved her hand away, as though the notion in itself was too silly. "I actually expect you to change your mind over what's _inside_ the beautiful, little gold box."

"I've got to get back to work, I can't spend all day playing this game." Elsa sighed, shaking her head at her younger sister. Her fingers were still curled around the bike, almost in a loving manner.

"You're always telling me to be more patient, but when push comes to shove—"

"Anna. Work?" Elsa repeated, impatiently now.

Her sister smirked now, tearing open the small box with ease. "Ta-da!"

"Is that…" Elsa's brows scrunched, and she tried to retain some queenly dignity at the sight of each of the individually wrapped chocolates inside the box.

"No, Sven!" Anna grunted, pushing away the reindeer who was already trying to take a bite. "Kristoff, tell him that this _imported_ chocolate is for Elsa, _if_ she'll let me teach her how to ride a bike."

"Sorry buddy, that orange sprinkled one isn't made out of carrots." Kristoff replied, and the reindeer made a sort of moaning sound in defeat.

"Orange sprinkled?" That piqued Elsa's interest, and she leaned in closer to the small box, finally able to recognize the writing. It was from Belgium; the chocolate capital of the world.

"It's okay Sven!" Olaf told the reindeer, patting his nose. "I can go get you some carrots! The kitchen has lots of them!"

That made the reindeer perk up. Kristoff rolled his eyes, but Sven was firm, nudging the snowman with his antlers. He giggled, nodding his head.

"Okay! I'll go get you some carrots, Sveny!" Olaf declared, much to Kristoff's chagrin.

"Don't call him Sveny. It's Sven. _Sven._" The ice-harvester muttered, although the snowman had long wandered back into the palace, oblivious that the queen was still eyeing that box of chocolate.

With Anna momentarily distracted by turning back to Kristoff, Elsa decided upon a plan of action. Perhaps it wasn't very queenly, or sisterly, but all's fair in love and chocolate, right? With very little warning, and one hand still clutching her new bike, she reached out to snatch the box away from her sister.

Unfortunately, Anna was quicker. She moved the box away quickly, which meant that Elsa overreached. And since one of her hands was still wound across her present, she was unable to take a balancing step forward.

Which meant that she fell.

And so did the bike.

"Elsa!" Anna's cry of alarm made it sound like the queen was dying. Which, by her groan of pain, probably made the scenario likely.

The bicycle was lifted off of her quickly, and a moment later the young queen was lifting her head, seeing Anna's extended hand. She sighed, her face burning with embarrassment and took it, surprised slightly at the amount of strength the girl held.

"Are you okay?!" Anna was flustered, not used to seeing anyone besides, well, herself taking spills of such magnitude. She pressed a worried hand to Elsa's shoulder, but the queen shrugged it off, brushing off her skirt.

"I'm _fine_," Elsa muttered, mortified by the way her pale skin turned a bright shade of red. "_This_ is why I don't ride bicycles, Anna."

Anna's face fell, but just for a moment. Determination swelled back in her. "Alright, let's get one thing straight. It was _your_ fault you fell—wow, never thought I would say that—not the bike's."

"Yes, and now its _my_ prerogative to say that I am _not_ learning to ride a bicycle." Elsa answered, a bite to her words now. She was more than embarrassed, and tired of having to rehash this old argument _again_.

"But—"

"I'll be in my study, if you need me." The queen returned, calmly, practiced, but her blush still hadn't gone away. She turned on her heel to disappear back into the palace, but Anna was faster, jumping in front of her.

"Elsa, c'mon, you've never given up on anything, _ever_!" The princess started, pleadingly.

Her sister stopped, narrowing her eyes. "Trust me, I won't like riding a bicycle."

"But Mama always said, how do you know you won't like it if you don't try it?" Anna's eyes were shining, almost feverish with hope. "I think you could be really good, if you just let me teach you! And then you can have your chocolate, all of it, I won't even ask for one piece!"

Elsa sighed. Of all the things, Anna had to bring their mother into this. She willed herself not to look into those puppy-dog eyes, but it was useless. Her baby sister knew how to guilt her into anything.

"…I get _all_ the chocolate?" Elsa finally asked, cautiously. A smile split across Anna's features, and it almost made all this worth it. Almost.

"Yes! Yes, every last bit!" Anna started to bite her lower lip, nervously. "So what do you say? Will you _please_ let me teach you how to ride a two-wheeler?"

Elsa sighed, already regretting her decision. "Alright."

Anna squealed in happiness, quickly hugging her sister, before half dragging her back to the now upright bicycle. Kristoff was still brushing it off; he must have been the person to lift it off of her.

"Okay, so first thing about riding ia bike, or really doing anything I guess, is safety first right? Like, you wouldn't believe the amount of times I like, needed a helmet, and didn't have one."

"I'll say," Kristoff muttered out the side of his mouth, giving a winning smile when Anna sent a glare back to him.

"_Anyway_, like I was saying, safety is always first!" Anna spun around, grabbing something off of the ground. All Elsa was able to do was blink, as something was thrown onto her head. "And see? Your helmet even matches the bike!"

Elsa reached up, touching the hard thing on her head. Then, she crossed her arms around her chest, stubbornly saying, "No."

"But safety—"

"I still have work to do." Elsa reminded, and Anna grimaced, immediately getting the idea.

"Yeah, you know what? You're safe enough, you don't need a lame helmet!"

She threw the helmet aside somewhere, and Elsa heard the sound of it landing in a patch of grass. She silently thanked the sun for thawing out her ice rink not too long after she'd made it, because she had a feeling Anna would be needing that helmet in the future.

"Okay, right, second thing, actually getting on the bike," Anna declared, and then eyed her sister for a moment, pursing out her lips. "You might want to raise your skirt."

Elsa's eyebrows shot up at the comment, and coughed into her hand. "_Excuse _me?"

"Just to your calves!" Anna hurried on, but Elsa's flushing didn't stop. She sighed. "It's just that, you know, it's not like you're a little girl anymore, and your long skirt could get caught in the pedals, and trust me, that is _not_ fun!"

Still blushing, Elsa wound her arms tighter against her. Her eyes flitted to Kristoff for a moment, but he was paying more attention to his dirty nails. "It's _improper_!"

"Don't be such a goody-two-shoes, Elsa, your wearing stockings." Anna returned, firmly. Then, she gave her sister an odd look. "Wait, you _are_ wearing stockings, aren't you?"

"Of course I am!" Elsa declared, far too loudly. Anna stifled a laugh, and she huffed, unused to being the joke. "Fine, fine, you win." Sighing, she grabbed two fistfuls of her skirt, raising the hem to just before her calves.

"Good, step three, get _on_ the bike."

At least that, Elsa could manage. A bit uneasily, she took a seat on the bicycle, sitting on her gathered skirt. Her toes could touch the ground, but not much else. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to feel anything but horribly nervous.

"Okay, now swing your other leg to the other side, like if you're on a horse." Anna stated, leaning her elbows on the handlebars.

Elsa hesitated, knowing full well _how_ to sit on a bike, but not too sure if the bicycle knew how to balance her weight. "I think it might fall, if I try that."

"Not if you're fast enough!" Anna said earnestly, though Elsa's uncertainty was noticeable. She rolled her eyes, moving so that she could grip one of the handlebars and the back of the seat at the same time. "Alright, try it _now_, you big baby."

Despite the frosty look she sent in Anna's direction, Elsa still hesitated. Finally, she sucked in a deep breath, and lifted one of her knees, trying to properly settle herself astride. The bicycle gave out a little under her weight, making her gasp slightly, but Anna's grip was true, and she didn't fall.

"See? That wasn't hard at all!" Anna laughed, and Elsa made a sound in the back of her throat, a worried sound. "Last step now, okay? Put your feet on the pedals, and you'll be off!"

"A-All by…myself?" Elsa's voice rose about four octaves, the terror almost straining. She looked at her sister with wide frightened eyes, her fingers twisting themselves in her lap as she tried not to freeze anything.

"What? No, of course not, you're not _that_ advanced!" Anna laughed, shaking her head. "I'll hold onto the bike, and run along with you!"

"Anna, maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Desperate to get out now, Elsa started to look for something, anything to excuse herself.

She'd never intended to _actually_ learn how to ride the bike, she had just assumed she'd sit on the thing and let Anna babble as she wanted, before heading back inside. She'd thought it was a foolproof method. Who would've known that for once in her life, Anna would be clear _and_ simple?

"Hey, don't be—"

"No, no, you don't _understand_." She was petrified now, hugging her arms against her. The wind was starting to pick up, the cold comfortingly settling in. Where were her guards, why weren't _they_ concerned that _she_ was concerned? "I can't, the last time I was, the last time I—"

"Elsa, _relax_!" Anna's voice was tight-laced with anxiety, one of her hands having gripped her sister's shoulder. Elsa noticed, dimly, that snow had started to fall. "Look, if you really don't want to, you don't _have_ to learn to ride a bike, okay?"

"I…I don't?" She felt like she was three years old all over again, looking up at the adults, and realizing she didn't _have_ to share her favorite toy with the new baby.

Anna smiled, gently, kindly, and for the first time Elsa realized how much her little sister looked like their mother. When had that happened? "I just wanted us to like, bond, you know? You're always working, and doing stuff for Arendelle, and I thought that maybe, well, maybe I could do something for you, for once. And I always wanted to ride bikes with you, and like, do tricks and stuff. But not if it's gonna upset you; you're supposed to be having fun, _not _freaking out."

"…oh."

"Yeah, you know what? This was a dumb plan anyway. I mean, who says you need to learn how to ride a bike? Me? I can't even do a 360!" Anna pretended to brush off invisible dirt off of her shoulder, shrugging off the whole idea with an easy grin. "C'mon, let's go get some, lemonade or something. I'm thirsty all of a sudden."

She was looking at her expectantly, Elsa realized. Her eyes were hopeful, but understanding. And suddenly, Elsa felt guilty, again. All Anna had wanted was some time to readjust to this new life of theirs. She'd been shut out for no (apparent) reason for more than a decade, and all she'd ever wanted was a chance to ride bikes through the halls.

Under the crushing weight of this realization, Elsa found herself saying, "No, it's okay, I'll be fine."

Anna looked surprised. Truth be told, so was Elsa. Just when Anna's mouth opened, to protest, to say something about all this craziness, she was cut off by another voice in the background.

"No, Sven!" A grunting voice said firmly, "They're trying to have a moment. You can _not _join in!"

If anything, however, the reindeer was not listening. He trotted over to the two young women, half dragging Kristoff with him. The mountain man looked flustered, while Sven nuzzled himself against Anna's shoulder.

The girl smiled brightly, taking her hand off Elsa so that she could scratch behind his ear. "Good boy, Sven, make Kristoff as uncomfortable as possible. But we're done here anyway, we're going back inside."

"So you're not gonna learn to ride a bike?" Kristoff asked quickly turning to the queen, confused. Then, he looked down at his feet, flustered again. "Uh…I um, mean, your majesty."

Elsa opened her mouth to answer, but she was stopped by a soft bumping against her shoulder. She looked over, to see that it was Sven, the reindeer prodding her with his antlers, looking unnaturally upset at the prospect that she was giving up.

Or at least, she assumed that's what it was, as Anna claimed only Kristoff knew how to speak reindeer. She smiled, slowly, slightly, and reached out a hand to tickle under his muzzle, as she'd seen her sister do a thousand times. He made a happy sound at this, and Elsa realized it was the first time she'd ever ventured to touch the reindeer.

"No, I'm going to do this." Determination was starting to fill her tone now, Elsa realized. She'd built an _ice castle_ for goodness sake! "But…you'll hold on, the entire time, right?" She was the queen of Arendelle, and the so called 'Snow Queen', but she wasn't going to do this unless precautions were met.

Anna's eyes widened, excited, and she bit down on her lip so hard Elsa worried it might altogether disappear. "Yes! Yes, I promise!"

"Well then," Elsa managed, placing two trembling hands on both of the handlebars, as Anna adjusted her own grip on one of them.

She looked out at the expanse of courtyard, fright still gnawing at her gut. She'd been promised before, and look at where _that_ had led her. Still, she ignored the memory and the ice spreading under her fingertips.

"Here goes nothing," she breathed out, pushing one of the pedals down. The bicycle lurched, stilling her for a moment as it moved on its own.

"Elsa, it's fine, I've still got you." Anna's trusting voice said, as she nudged her sister with her shoulder, as her hands were busy balancing the bike.

"Right, right," Elsa gave a nervous laugh, "I was just…making sure that it worked, that's all."

"So now you know it works, do it again!" Anna encouraged, bumping Elsa again with her shoulder. The queen hesitated, and then pushed the other pedal down.

The bike started moving again, but this time, since her other foot had been on the pedal as well, it moved too. She was slow, but yes, she was definitely in motion. It was a sort of gleeful terror.

Anna's grip remained ever tight, or so Elsa assumed because she still felt her sister moving along side her snail speed. "That's it, you're doing it!"

Encouraged, Elsa found the will in her to push down on the pedal with more strength, this time speeding up. She did so again, and again, a fissure appearing between her eyebrows at her intense concentration. Though the handlebars wobbled slightly, she found her trembling was all but forgotten.

"Keep going, Elsa, you're doing great!" Anna's voice sounded far from her, and a smile spread onto the queen's features without her even realizing it.

"I am! I'm doing it! Anna, I'm—Anna?" Elsa looked up, suddenly wild with concern, and she saw that her sister was not actually holding the bike. As a matter of fact, as the young woman whipped her head back for a fraction of a second, she realized that her sister was far back.

That liar.

"Don't panic, you're still doing well!" Anna called out, as Elsa whipped her head back forward, struggling to maintain her composure. "You're alright, you're fantastic, you're doing _so_ good!"

"Okay!" Elsa called back, nervously.

But Anna was right. She was doing it! She was riding a bike, all by herself, _like a big girl_. It felt a bit like flying, only she wasn't in the air, but she was running so smoothly across that she didn't care. She let out an ecstatic laugh, suddenly feeling confident enough to make her first turn.

"I told you this was a good idea." Anna said smugly, Kristoff having come up next to her, when Sven at his heels.

Kristoff watched as the queen gave a very un-queenly laugh, and shrugged. "In my defense, I never said it wasn't a good idea. I just said she wasn't going to be over the moon."

"What? You think I don't know my own sister? You have so little faith in me, Kristoff, its hurtful." Sniffing, as though she truly was hurt, Anna turned her face, although it was mostly to hide her smile.

If it had any effect on Kristoff, it was just him snorting in disbelief. "Yeah, well, your sister almost gave up on this five minutes ago."

"Psh, you think that was Elsa giving up? That was just my reverse psychology! I already told you, I'm a renaissance woman, I'm amazing!" Anna declared, puffing out her chest in determination.

Kristoff snorted again, looking down at her. "That was the _worst_ example of reverse psychology I've ever seen."

"Yeah, because you use it so often on Sven." Anna snorted herself this time, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm not saying it was my _finest_ reverse psychology, but it got the job done, so there, Mr. I-Talk-To-Reindeers-And-Think-I'm-So-Smart-Because-I-Can-Tie-A-Stupid-Knot-For—"

A loud crashing sound suddenly stopped Anna from speaking anymore. She whirled around on her heel, stock still at the sight of her sister's bike thrown on the ground, and a pair of stockinged feet sticking out onto the castle wall, right behind a rose bush. She cringed.

Then she started running.

"Elsa?" Her voice called, desperate now for good news. "Elsa, are you okay? Oh no, please tell me you're okay! You didn't break your neck, did you? _Did you_?!"

Just as Anna was reaching out, over the rose bush, her sister's legs disappeared. A startled Anna pulled back, bumping into Kristoff. A second later, Elsa was popping up, grinning from ear to ear like the Cheshire cat himself.

"That was fun!" She declared, acting very much like her sister. "Did you _see_ me? I was doing it! Anna, I rode a two-wheeler, all by myself! Let's do it again! Let's do tricks, okay, let's make a book of just bicycle tricks that—wait, what are you staring at?"

Elsa frowned, her former giddiness starting to run away. Her skull pounded, and shoulder, which had taken most of the impact, hurt, but nothing too horrible. However, Anna, Kristoff, and Sven were all staring at her with huge eyes, their jaws dropped. She pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling something wet; melted ice, perhaps?

"Hey, Sven! I got you your carrots! Man you wouldn't believe how hard it was to just _find_ these things, it was like—"

Olaf waddled through Kristoff and Anna, speaking as he did so. However, he cut himself off at the sight of Elsa. Like everyone else, he stared.

Then he screamed.

Then he promptly fainted.

"Huh?"

Elsa blinked, not comprehending what was going on. Something dripped onto her eyelash, clouding her vision. But it was dark, not at all like the water melted ice would be. Dark like...

She took her hand off her forehead slowly. Examined it. Took a deep breath.

Then she promptly fainted at the sight of her own blood.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'll thank all my wonderful reviewers next chapter. I'm too tired for now (it's 4am!). Hope you like this chapter, it was even longer than the last (4300 words, I'm insane!). But next chapter will hopefully be the end, so hang on guys! **

**Don't forget to review!**

**REVIEW. **

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_In her dream, she was smaller._

Small enough that she had to stand on her tiptoes to reach the doorknob, and pull it open with two hands. She did so easily though, used to having to make accommodations for her small stature. She skipped inside the door, eyes bright and step springy with happiness.

The scene inside the nursery, however, was anything _but_ happy.

"Anna, _please_," the queen's desperate voice nearly begged, "Give Nanny the broken doll, _before_ you cut yourself."

Elsa's eyes wandered to the middle of the room, where her baby sister was currently spread out on the floor. She was clutching onto a broken porcelain doll with one arm, her other hand curled into a tiny fist and banging onto the floor. Tears streamed down red, scrunched up face, with her mouth open wide with a scream.

"No! Mine!" Anna cried out, kicking out her feet behind her. "Mine, mine, mine!"

Elsa shook her head at the two year old. Anna often pitched fits that required Nanny, Mama, and whoever else was brave enough to get her to calm down. But at least this time she hadn't broken one of her sister's dolls, so that was a plus.

Ignoring the screaming and pleading coming from Anna and Nanny, Elsa sidled up next to her mother, tugging on her skirt. The queen looked down at her with worn out eyes, strands of hair escaping from her usually immaculate bun.

"What is it, Elsa?" Her tone was impatient and tired, and Elsa knew that it meant her Mama was not in the mood for jokes.

So Elsa decided to put on her sweet face, the one she used when she was asking her parents for a new toy. "Papa promised to teach me how to ride my bike without training wheels today, like a big girl!"

"Hm?" The queen's eyes had wandered back towards her screaming child, and she winced.

Elsa huffed in annoyance, tugging harder on her mother's dress. "Ma-_ma_! Papa _promised_ that he was gonna teach me to ride my bike, and then _you_ said that you would watch me!"

Her whining tone only seemed to frustrate her mother. The woman already had one misbehaving child; she did _not_ need another. "Elsa, why don't you go to the library and start on your spelling words? Or practice your penmanship?"

The little girl in question frowned, shaking her head adamantly. "I don't _wanna_ do lessons, Mama! Papa is gonna teach me—"

"Papa…" The queen mumbled, as though running the name through her mind. "Yes! Go see what your father is doing, he should be done with the council by now."

"But Mama—"

"Go, be a good girl and play with your father," The queen started pushing the girl in the direction of the door, gently, but firmly. Then she paused for a second, her grip on her daughter tightening ever so slightly. "And no magic, Elsa, not today. _Please_."

The blonde girl sighed, her shoulders slumping and heart dropping. But she nodded anyway, eyes trained to the ground now. "Yes, Mama."

Elsa walked to the door, leaving to the sound of a woman shrieking, and her mother's voice in the background crying out, "Anna! Stop biting Nanny!"

Sighing again, Elsa closed the nursery door behind her, leaving behind the screaming and sobbing. It was horrid, but she was used to Anna's tantrums. She'd heard Nanny mention to Mama before that it was "terrible twos", whatever that meant.

"'S okay, Papa's still gonna teach me, and I'll just show Mama later!" She brightened up, happy again like any child would be at the prospects she was facing.

She picked up skipping once again, having just learned how to do it from one of the maid's a few days before. She was used to having free range of the palace, because now that she was in lessons (only for half a day, but still) she was old enough to do what she wanted _without_ having Nanny follow her around.

Humming to herself now, Elsa jumped down each individual step, before finally making it to the level where the council meeting room was. She was sure that no one was in the room, but just to make sure, she pressed her ear against it. When she received no sound, she stood on her tiptoes and opened the door, giggling at the sound it made.

Her laughter cut off though, when she realized that the council chamber _was_ in use at the moment.

"Elsa?" Papa's voice questioned, in that calm, quiet voice she was used to. She looked straight to the ground, her hands twisting around themselves. "Elsa, come here."

She did just that. She ran to her father, jumping onto his lap and hugging him tight. She heard the other men of the council murmur things like "princess" and "your highness", but she ignored them. She was only Papa's big-girl-princess.

She felt Papa's hand smooth back a few tendrils of her escaping pigtails, and she curled into his chest. "And to what do I owe this pleasure, my lady?"

Elsa looked up at him, his smiling face, and adopted a very serious look. "Mama told me to go and play with you."

"She did?" The king questioned, and Elsa nodded in response. The thought of it made the man curious; his wife was usually able to work her schedule around the girls, and if that failed, there was always the help. "And where is your sister?"

"She's biting Nanny. She's not being a good girl, and Mama's not happy." Elsa paused for a second, frowning a bit at her thought process. "I think Anna's broken, Papa. Nanny says she's got terrible two's."

There were good-natured chuckles from around the table, and the king managed a smile, though it was a bit forced. He knew how long Anna's tantrums could last, and he also knew the bad humor they put his wife in. It was not going to a fun night, to be sure.

"Ah. Well, princess, I'm a bit busy now," Elsa's frown deepened, her eyebrows starting to scrunch together in an upsetting fashion. "Why don't you go play by yourself?"

"But Papa, you promised to—!"

"Majesty, we really must be getting back to the pressing issue at hand." At the new voice, Elsa turned, noticing a man she'd seen before looking rather annoyed at her.

She looked back at her father, to see him sigh and shake his head. "What issue, Papa? Is somethin' wrong? Did I do somethin' bad?"

The little girl thought about it, listing off mentally all the things her parents didn't know about (like the chipped statue in the entrance hall, or the icky oatmeal she'd frozen during breakfast), and decided that none of them were _too_ bad. And she didn't think anyone knew about them yet, either, considering she'd hidden the oatmeal under a rug.

She looked over at the table, noticing some papers on it. She leaned in closer, trying to read them. This was exponentially difficult, due to the fact that she had to sound out each letter silently, as her tutor had taught her to do with long words.

"What's a…bee-trof-al? And how come it says 'Elsa'? That's my name!" She giggled slightly, happy to be able to point out at least one of the words. She spread her hand across the stilly slightly wet ink, smudging most of the words in the process.

In a flash, her father's hand reached out and turned over the document, and then twisted her around so that she could see him. He did not look very happy. "Elsa, what did I just say?"

The blonde girl tilted her head to the side, confused. "Nothing. You were really quiet. What's a bee-trof-al?"

The king pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling loudly. Elsa frowned, not comprehending how she was upsetting him. Before either of the duo could ask anymore questions, anyone voice answered her question.

"A betrothal, your highness, is an agreement with another, in this case a country, that you will be married to a grand duke." It was the other man who answered, his voice smug.

Elsa looked to him a moment, deciding right then that she did not like him one bit. He looked like a snake. She hated ugly snakes. Stubbornly, she declared, "Papa says I can't get married until I'm one-hundred years old."

There were more amused, almost uncomfortable laughs around the room now, but Elsa held the man's gaze, staring at him with an intensity five year olds were not supposed to have. "The king's views have changed as of late, it would seem, your highness."

Elsa's frown deepened, and she turned to her father suspiciously. "He's lying, right, Papa?"

Her father looked distant, almost guilty. He winced, reaching out to smooth another lock of platinum blonde behind her ear. "Now, princess, whatever I do, it's for your happiness, and to make sure that you're always taken care of."

Blue sparks started forming on Elsa's fingertips, but she was quick to ball her hands into fists. "I don't wanna get married, Papa, I'm only _five_! Then I'll have to give up all my toys and give them to Anna—and they're _my_ toys, not hers!"

"Elsa—"

"No!" Adamant, the little girl hit her fists against her father's chest, not noticing the layer of frost forming against him as she did so. "I won't, I won't, I won't!"

She turned back around, finding the upside-down document. With as much fury as she possessed, she grabbed the thing and ripped it in half, ignoring the temperature drop in the room and the ice growing out of the ceiling. She ripped up the pieces as fast as her hands would allow her, completely tuning out the shouts from the other men, and her father's sudden excusal.

In fact, she didn't really notice anything until she was struggling against him, having been lifted up and taken down the hall into an empty room. He closed the door behind them, and she was just started to consider biting when he placed her back on her feet.

Stubborn as a mule, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and stamped her foot. Ice spread across the floor. "I'm _not_ gonna give up my toys."

"Do you realize what you just did, young lady?" Her father's voice was piercing, yelling. That made her shrink back slightly, because her father _never_ yelled. "That was a month's work of negotiations, debates, countless hours of precise wording—gone! In a minute!"

Elsa looked down at the ground, mumbling with fading anger, "They're _my _toys."

In truth, she didn't really _understand_ marriage. She knew that people got married, but they were old people, like her parents. But her mother had once told her that when you're old, you don't play with toys, and that terrified her. What if getting married meant no more fun?

"And then, your powers! Do you realize how close you became to showing the council your magic? Have I not told you, more than once, that you must not let it show?" The king continued on, having ignored her statement and still fuming.

"I don't know how to control it, Papa. You didn't teach me." Her words were innocent, but there was an edge to it, perhaps leering towards being a bit of a smart-alec. She knew it as well as her father, and that's why he gave a heavy sigh, taking a seat.

"Come here," he ordered, and she moved forward slowly, warily, unsure of what he was planning. "Now, Elsa. I don't have time for games; this is going to be a quick punishment so that I can get back to my duties for the rest of the day."

The girl took another step forward, still unsure when she heard the word 'punishment'. When she was close enough, he lifted her up, but not so that she could sit on his knee. It was so that she was spread across his knees.

She had a good view of the ground, but she didn't understand what he was planning. She hadn't been really, really, _really_ bad. Only just a little, not even that much, not even enough to tell Mama. Surely he wouldn't—

Smack!

Her father's hand was brought down heavily on her rear, and she gave a muffled shriek of pain. Ice shot out threw the ceiling, but the king grimly ignored it, bringing his hand down a second time.

Elsa cried out again, her vision swimming with tears that fell once the third strike hit. That was also the strike that made her hands fly out, frost spreading across the far wall. She thought she heard a vase crack, but it was hard to tell from her hiccupping sobs.

Her father righted her, his face grim. He placed her feet back on the ground, hating himself for causing her pain, but knowing that she'd needed to be punished. Heavy is the head who wears the crown indeed.

"Go the nursery. You are to stay in there until dinner, is that understood?" Elsa's big blue eyes stared at him, hurt, angry and so many other things.

She ran away from him, running to the door before turning back with accusing eyes and saying, "You _promised_."

If she'd been capable of slamming the door behind her, she would have. She was angry, so angry that it caused more tears to well up in her eyes. She wiped those tears away with the back of her arm.

"Papa's s-so mean. He's gonna tell Mama and then Mama will be m-mean, and it's not my f-fault he _promised_!" Mumbling to herself, the princess meandered through the halls, fists clenching and unclenching with every step she took.

"Papa said 'go to the nursery' but I don't _want_ to." She pursed her lips out, thinking hard. "I'm a big girl, I'm five. I can do what I want!"

Elsa stopped at a fork in the hallway, noticing that there was no one around. She shrugged it off, not realizing that the temperature had dropped a good deal all around her. One way lead to the staircase, her room…but the other way lead to the servants entrance, out to the courtyard, where her bike was.

It took her only a fraction of a second to make up her mind. She started running, giggling at the idea that she was ignoring her father. And no one would know, and she'd show all of them how mean they were when she could ride her bike all by herself.

She pushed passed people, and soon enough, she was outside, reveling in the late summer air. It took her only a moment to find her bike, and she moved it out to the middle of the courtyard, where she'd practiced riding so many times before.

She looked over her bike, proud at its beauty. Pink and white, with sparkly tassels coming from the handlebars, a little white basket with a daisy painted on it (that's where her dolls would ride), it was a beauty to behold. She'd never fallen on it, but then, that could also be attributed to its training wheels.

"Training wheels!" She suddenly remembered, eyes running back to the little wheels in the back that kept her balanced. "How am I s'posed to take them _off_?"

She sat on the ground, letting her face fall. She looked back at the bike, and a knot formed in her stomach. Maybe she should just wait until Papa came to teach her…

"I can do it!" She declared, shaking off her thoughts. She jumped up coming to her bike, and gently setting it on one side. Then she gripped the training wheel with all her might. "One…two…three!"

She gave a hard pull, as hard as she could, and…nothing. It didn't even move. She tried three more times, just for luck, but still nothing.

"It's _impossible_," she sighed, hugging her arms around herself. "I can't do it."

"Beggin' yer pardon, your 'ighness, but what're ya tryin' to do?"

She looked up to see a kindly face guard peering at her, and her face fell further. Although she liked the man—he'd slipped her a few sweets before—she realized that it was hopeless.

"I want to take my training wheels off, 'cause I'm a big girl, but I _can't_." She sighed, kicking up dust with one of her slippers.

"Oh, that ain't nuthin' to be long-faced 'bout, Princess." The guard replied with a quick grin, pulling out a pocket-knife. "I can do that fer you, lickety split, watch."

Elsa looked up, regarding him shrewdly. "You can…?" She wondered, face scrunching.

The man nodded easily, still smiling. "Yessum, it's all 'bout what kinda tools ya got. See, I'll 'ave 'em wheels off fer you in just a sec."

He leaned forward, and Elsa moved away, watching as he used the small knife as a screwdriver. Just like he said, a few twists and one of the wheels was completely off. Her face split into a smile.

"Again! Again! Do it with the other one now!" She cried, laughing in glee. The man's smile grew, nodding at her.

"Alright, Princess, alright. Just a few, urgh, twists here, and one, umph, there an'—"

"It's off!" Elsa declared, as the guard gathered the training wheels for her and stood up. "Thank you!"

"'Tweren't nothing, yer highness." He bowed, shaking his head at her amusement. Then he hesitated, realizing that she wasn't being supervised by any specific adult. "Erm…ya know what yer doin', right, Princess?"

Elsa paused for a second, looking at him. His kind face was pulled into a conflicted look. She debated it, for a few seconds, telling him the truth. That she _didn't_ know how to ride a bicycle, and would he be so kind to teach her? He was obviously very nice…and it couldn't hurt, right?

"Reg! Stop slackin', and get back here for patrol!" A distant voice shouted, and Elsa watched as the man before her winced, looking behind him and then back to her.

"Well, that's fer me, ain't it? Here," he handed her the training wheels, winking as he did so, "You 'ave fun, yer 'ighness." He bowed, before jogging away from her, back to where the other voice had shouted to him.

Elsa blinked, looking down at the training wheels in her hands. What was she going to do with these now? She looked right, then left, before chucking one of them to see how far it would go. She smiled when it landed in the fountain, and did the same to its twin, happy to be rid of the babyish contraptions.

"Okay! Now for the fun!" She nodded to herself, standing the bike back up. "Step one, safety first." She started, listing off of her fingers the steps her Papa had taught her to riding a bike.

She looked around, frowning as she realized she hadn't brought out her safety gear. "Never-mind, I don't _need_ a helmet!"

"Step two, make sure you're okay to get on the bike." She looked around her, touching various body parts, like her knees and her elbows to make sure they were solid. It was more fun when Papa did it though, she realized, because he always tickled her when he did it.

"Step three, get _on_ the bike!" She did so with little effort, despite the bike's wiggling beneath her. But as long as she kept her feet down, on either side, she was fine. "Okay, and step four, put your feet on the pedals and go!"

She looked out at the expanse of the courtyard, suddenly gulping. This hadn't seemed so intimidating until now. Still, she couldn't give up. She had to prove to everyone that she could do it, show Papa and Mama how mean they were.

"One…two…three!" She cried out, pushing as fast as her little legs could go.

She managed to get one foot on the pedal, but she lost the other foot's slipper, and that suddenly made things so much more difficult. She was also unable to steer the bike, wiggling the handlebars too much because she didn't know what else to do. It was all she could to just stay on the bike, and without warning, she hit something on the ground.

"Whoa!" She cried, too scared to scream, before landing in something wet, and disgustingly warm.

She sat up, terrified, and realized that she had landed in the same fountain she'd chucked her training wheels into. She whimpered, wrapping her arms around herself as the tears started to form. The water started turning into ice around her; scared, she tried to get out of the water, but found the bottom too slippery.

"Ack!" She cried out again, falling out of the fountain.

Luckily her instinct kicked in, and she spread out her hands to break the fall. However, her palms were too slick and ended up slipping against the pavement.

For a moment, all she did was stay stock still.

Then the pain came tearing through.

She sucked in a breath, bottom lip trembling as she stood up. She whimpered at the sight of her torn stocking, a scraped, bloody knee. One of her palm's had been sliced, and the sight of her blood made her dizzy.

"Mama!" She was suddenly sobbing, tearing back into the palace blindly. The wind picked up around her, harsh and biting with its artic fury. "Papa! I want my Papa!"

Her screaming went unnoticed, due to the intensity of the sudden storm. The wind carried away her voice, and frightened, the girl clutched her injured hand closer to her. She managed to stumble her way through, getting through the door just before a blast of wind that would have knocked her ten feet in the air flew through.

Still in tears, Elsa started running, not caring who saw or what she bumped into or what happened.

"Mama's in the nursery," she found herself whispering to herself, out of breath as she continued to run. "Mama will make it feel better, she will!" She climbed the steps two at a time, scrambling until she made it to her room.

"Mama? Mama!" Desperate, Elsa called out for the queen, to no avail. "Nanny?" She tried again, the sobs coming back up her throat in her panic. "Anybody?"

A snore caught her attention. She swiveled her head, wildly resting her eyes on Anna, asleep in her crib. In a flash of a moment, Elsa ignored the pain in her palm, the scrape in her knee, her soaked clothes that stuck to her, and the water droplets that obscured her vision.

No, now she was _angry_.

Spikes started to grow out of the walls, with each step she took towards her little sister. "It's your f-fault that Mama and P-Papa are _mean_ now! It's _your _fault t-that Papa's gonna make g-give up my toys!"

Snow was falling now, and with each step she took, the more menacing the ice around her became. The temperature drop was near freezing now, and it was hard to see.

Elsa stepped up to the crib, drawing her hands out from around her, through the bars of the bed. Her face was twisted into deep concentration, and she put her hands over the sleeping form of her sister. Blue frost started to lick at her hands.

"They're _my_ toys," Elsa mumbled, ready to drop a pile of snow on her sister. Perhaps if her parents saw all the snow, they'd think Anna was gone and they'd go back to loving her!

In the moment when her sliced hand was over her sister, a drop of blood fell onto Anna. Only half asleep, the toddler opened her blue eyes, the spot of blood between them, and a sleepy smile appearing on her lips when she looked up. "Elsa!"

It was in that moment that the platinum blonde girl, well, froze. Softly, choking on her words, she asked, "Anna?"

The child in the crib sat up, blinking away her sleepiness. "Magic!" She giggled, the only word she knew for the blue sparks on her sister's fingers.

"Huh?" Elsa blinked, looking down at her fingers, before snatching them back to her wet dress. Anna shivered, uncomfortable in the cold. "You need your blanky, Anna."

Looking through the bars, Elsa managed to reach in and grab the blanket that had been kicked to one side. She pulled it onto her sister, but as she did, Anna grabbed her hand. Confused, Elsa looked at her, brows furrowing.

"Sleep! Sleep!" Anna chanted, tugging on her arm.

Elsa gave a choked sob, unable to hold back. "No, Anna, I'm a bad big sister. I wanted to hurt you."

Anna looked at her, blinking and obviously not comprehending, "Bad?"

"Mama doesn't wanna watch me do things, and Papa gave me a spanking. Then I tried to ride my bike on two-wheels, like a big girl, but I went over the handlebars and into the fountain and I got hurt and then I wanted to hurt you and I'm just bad all over. And nobody loves me 'cause of my magic." Crying, Elsa rubbed at her eyes with the back of her arm, her hand still pulsing with pain.

At the very least, it had stopped bleeding, as had her knee, but that wasn't the point. Mama and Papa didn't like her anymore, not since she'd gotten magic. And ever since Anna had come, they didn't have any time for her. It was like they didn't care.

"No bad! I love." Anna's little voice declared, eager and innocent. Elsa looked down incredibly, just to see Anna staring at with a big smile. "I love!"

"You do?" Elsa asked, dumbly with an incredulous note.

Anna nodded seriously, like if she really understood what was being asked of her, she just didn't have the vocabulary to explain it. "I love!"

Elsa felt a swell in her chest. It was the first time her baby sister had ever said she loved anything. Usually Anna's words were limited to her favorites, 'no' and 'mine'.

"I love you too, Anna." Elsa whispered, a smile cracking across her tear-stained face. Anna smiled broadened, and she tugged at Elsa's hand harder, more determined.

"Sleep! Elsa, sleep!"

Elsa's brow furrowed, an idea suddenly dawning on her. "Do you want me to sleep _with_ you?"

Anna just kept tugging at her hand, trying to pull her through the crib bars. It wasn't working, so she looked up, blinking and still smiling. Elsa bit her lip, before nodding.

"Okay, I'll sleep with you, but only 'cause you're probably afraid," Elsa declared, before shaking the bars of the crib slightly. They didn't give, which made her nod her head again.

"Alright, one…two…three!" After kicking off the one shoe she still had on, she hooked her stockinged feet in between the bars, and managed to pull herself up. She wiggled her way up to the top, before slipping into the bed.

Anna came face to face with her sister, still smiling. Elsa smiled back, and she grabbed the blanket, adjusting her position to make sure both her and Anna could fit comfortably. She wrapped the toddler around in the blanket, figuring that she didn't need it since the cold didn't bother her.

"Okay, Anna, let's sleep." Elsa declared, pulling her sister back with her into the little bed. Anna, with a sudden wave a tiredness, yawned, curling into Elsa's cold skin without complaint.

"I love," she mumbled, her eyes starting to shut as she drifted off. "I love."

Elsa smiled drowsily, starting to fall asleep too. She was a mess to be sure, still soaking wet, cuts that needed to be cleaned, pigtails in disarray, missing one shoe, and her bike was probably all broken. But the child didn't care.

"I love you too, Anna. I love being your big sister." Elsa mumbled, looking upwards for just a second.

The ice was starting to disappear, not melting but…it was _thawing_. She wondered, for just a brief second, what caused that, but she was too tired. It had been a trying day, _and Anna's snoring was actually sort of like a lullaby…_


	5. Chapter 5

**It's 4:40am. I'm exhausted. I've got one more, short little epilogue chapter that will cover all my faithful reviewers.**

**REVIEW.**

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Elsa's eyes shot open, and then immediately squeezed closed. Her head was _pounding_. It was like someone had gotten a large book, and was just pressing it against her skull, hammering it in.

"Damn it," she swore, opening her eyes slightly. The light hurt, but she braced through the pain, content on being able to actually _see_.

Once her eyes were finally able to focus, the first thing she noticed was that Anna had about half of her body thrown onto her legs. She blinked a few times, not comprehending _why_. Was her sister upset in some way?

"Anna?" She questioned softly, sitting up carefully.

A wave of dizziness hit her and she paused for a moment, before letting out a low hiss at the pain in her shoulder. Finally, she made it up all the way, and she leaned over, brushing back her sister's flyaway strands.

"Anna." She said more firmly this time, shaking her sister a bit in the process. "Anna, wake up."

"Mhm…lemme at 'im…" Anna mumbled, waking up slowly.

Elsa bit her lip to keep from laughing, instead shaking her head in amusement. It was the wrong movement to do; she winced heavily, bringing a hand to her forehead. Her forehead that felt like…what was _on_ her head?!

"Elsa?" Anna's voice questioned, incredulously. The queen only had enough time to connect eyes with her sister, before the girl launched herself at her. "You're okay! You have no idea how much you _scared_ me! I thought you were going to bleed out everywhere, I didn't know—"

"Wait, what?" Elsa cut in, blinking quickly. She shoved her sister off of her, more in an attempt to rest her aching shoulder. "What happened? Why do I have a bandage around my forehead?"

Anna braked, her eyes shifting. "Um…yeah, about that…see…"

Elsa groaned, already realizing this was bad. "Anna, what did you manage to get me to do _this_ time?"

"It wasn't my fault, okay!" Anna defended hurriedly, trying hard to make a solid point that she wasn't to be blamed. Elsa's eyes narrowed. "I told you that you didn't have to learn how to ride a bike, but _you_ were the one who said that you could do it and that you didn't want to wear a helmet! And—"

"That's right, I wasn't going to do it, but you promised not to let go—" Elsa gasped, and Anna grimaced, lifting up her hands in surrender. "_You let go of the bicycle_!"

"It's the only way you were going to learn how to ride it by yourself!" She tried to explain, shrieking and ducking as a snowball was aimed at her head. "Elsa, c'mon, you already got your revenge! When I saw you faint, and all the blood, I thought you were _dying_!"

"What do you mean by 'faint' and 'blood'?" Elsa asked, settling for a heavy glare on her sister.

Anna winced, immediately starting to shrink further and further back into her seat. "Well, see, you were doing really well, remember? You were riding your bike, all by yourself! But then you sort of…uh, crashed, into the rose bushes, and you got a just a little scraped."

"I remember that. I was doing quite well, wasn't I?" Elsa grinned, almost dreamily. Then she frowned, eyes narrowing again. "How much is "a little scraped", Anna?"

"Um…well, the good news is that you won't get a scar! And you can thank Kristoff for that, because he was like, super calm, and he carried you all the way here really fast!" Anna hurriedly put out there, trying to downplay the situation.

"And the bad news?" Elsa questioned, in a very calm, very dangerous way.

"You got four stitches, and the physician put a bandage around it so that you don't itch it." Anna answered, immediately ducking behind her hands.

"'Itch' is not a verb, Anna." Elsa replied absently, reaching up to probe her new bandage, wincing as she hit a tender spot. "How awful does it look?"

"It's really not that bad. It's like, barely noticeable! Your bangs cover it…mostly." Laughing nervously, the princess moved her head up from behind her hands, very cautiously. "I mean, I bet that no one will even notice it! Not even your council will be able to tell!"

"The council?" Elsa wondered, before immediately groaning. "Oh, no. I've got the council meeting tomorrow! I can _not_ go looking like _this_!"

"What's the big deal? If they ask, you tell them the truth. You were learning to ride a bike, and you fell. It's not like that hasn't happened to all of us at some point." Anna pointed out, resting her elbows on the infirmary bed Elsa was resting in.

"'The big deal' is that that's not exactly the sort of things queens attempt, Anna. Especially not at this age!" Elsa shot back, her mind already racing at the excuses she'd have to come up with, the meetings she'd have to postpone, the overall amount of annoyingness that would come with this.

"…its not queenly, or your just embarrassed?"

Elsa almost had whiplash at how hard she turned her head. "What?"

Anna, with her elbows still resting on the bed, shrugged. "I'm just sayin'. It sounds like you're embarrassed that you never learned to ride a bike."

"I can assure you, I am most definitely _not_." Elsa returned, her face smoothing out in a practiced look. Anna looked up at her with skeptical eyes, which quickly turned gentle, questioning.

"Elsa," the princess started quietly, a thought dawning on her, "You've never quit at anything, ever. Why didn't you try again to ride a bike, after you fell?"

The queen maintained her regal composure, even now with dried blood in her hair, and multiple small abrasions across her pale skin. "I was a child with a scrape. My mindset was much different."

"See, that's the thing," Anna started, tilting her head to the side, as though she trying to figure out. "Me? I've always been, like, everywhere. I get distracted so easily, it's like, crazy. But you've _always _been able to focus, and once you put your mind to something, you've never stopped, not until you've perfected it."

Elsa sighed, her hands reaching behind her to loosen ribbon holding her bun. Once the braid fell down her shoulder, she gave a breath of relief. "You're looking far too into this, Anna. It was five year old's logic, leave it be."

Her sister regarded her for a moment, as though trying to look into her. Elsa drew her eyes away, avoiding the younger girl's perceptiveness by focusing on undoing her thick braid. It wasn't difficult by any means, but it gave her an excuse not to break under her sister's suddenly intense eyes.

"So when Papa taught you how to ride a two-wheeler," Anna started, her voice nonchalant, "He just let you go, right? Like, no holds back, just go straight and don't crash as soon as your training wheels were off?"

Elsa sighed once more, although it was in exasperation this time. "I've got a head injury. Can you save your questioning for another time, when my migraine isn't as prevalent?"

"Just answer this one thing for me, and then I'll stop talking, I swear!" Anna answered quickly, despite the incredulous look she was given by her sister. She quickly revised herself. "Okay, well, I'll stop asking _questions_."

"Fine," Elsa replied, her eyes still trained to her long hair. "Yes, our father sent me off on my bicycle after the training wheels were removed."

"Ah ha!" Anna cried out, wagging her index finger at Elsa. The queen looked momentarily taken aback, before raising a single eyebrow in question. "I knew it, you're lying!"

"First, do not point. It's unmistakably rude." Elsa answered, pushing her sister's finger away from her, for the second time that day. "Second, what are you referring to?"

"Papa took off the pedals first, so that you got the "_balance_" of the bike, or whatever the heck it was. I dunno, I thought it was dumb, and it took him _forever_ to finally let me try to ride, so I didn't do it when I was trying to teach you—wait! I'm getting off track—you're lying!"

"Anna, isn't it possible that Papa decided teach you differently, _three years later_?" Obviously irked, Elsa stared down her sister, who seemed to deflate slightly at the logic.

"I guess," Anna admitted, before perking up suspiciously. "It's weird, though."

Elsa nearly rolled her eyes, managing to say, "The only _odd_ thing about this is your insistence on the matter."

"I just don't get why you never learned. It just doesn't make any sense to me." Anna sighed, giving a frustrated sigh, before her eyes widened. "Unless…did Papa _ever_ teach you to ride a bike?"

The queen froze, forgive the pun, for just a brief moment, barely noticeable. Then, she continued to run her fingers through her hair, untangling it. "This conversation is starting to become ridiculous, I don't know why you're so intent on—"

"Elsa." Anna reached out, grabbing her sister's hand, and squeezing it in her own.

The queen sighed, resignedly now, still avoiding Anna's eyes. "Papa was far too busy."

"Too busy for his own daughter?" Anna questioned softly, pity marking her tone. She reached out to push Elsa's hair out of her face.

Elsa scoffed, turning away from her sister's offered contact. "He was trying to come to a betrothal agreement for me. He hadn't the time to break away from his work."

"I guess that makes—wait, a betrothal?" Anna spluttered in disbelief, her jaw hanging wide open. "Wait, like, you're-supposed-to-marry-some-random-guy betrothal? _That _kind?!"

"There's a new rendition of the dictionary due to arrive tomorrow, if you would like to check." Elsa put mildly, smiling, although there was no mirth or amusement behind her features.

Anna narrowed her eyes, obviously not amused by her sister's joke. "I can't believe he was going to marry you off to someone you didn't know, especially when you were a _child_! That's so mean of him!"

"The agreement wouldn't have done anything until I was eighteen, Anna. And he only did so with the best of intentions, for the kingdom and I." Elsa corrected, her smile almost pained now, as though she had eaten something that tasted foul.

"So what happened? After Papa and Mama…" Anna trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. Her sister squeezed her hand, nodding for her to continue. "After you took over, did you like, say no way?"

"Actually, I terminated the agreement when I was still a child." Elsa answered, shaking her head at the memory. Then she winced at the dizziness the movement created, gently pressing her fingers to her forehead.

Anna bit her lip, her brow scrunching up in confusion. "Okay, you've lost me. Are we still talking about what I _think_ we're talking about?"

Elsa's smiled warmed a bit now, not much, but slightly still. "I thought marriage meant giving up my playthings, so I decided to rip the document as much as I could. In front of the council, I may add."

"Oh my gosh!" Anna gasped, but not in a horrified manner. "Go little Elsa! And then what? You told Papa you wouldn't go through the betrothal, and he realized how wrong he was, and everything turned out okay in the end, right? I mean, besides the whole not-learning-to-ride-a-bike thing."

Now, Elsa's smile vanished, replaced by a frustrated frown. "It's not that easy. You can't…there are repercussions to every action, whether it be in the best interests of a person and kingdom, or not."

"_Annnnd_, I'm lost. Again." Anna pursed her lips, regarding her sister shrewdly. "You're really not that good at explaining things, you know."

"For goodness sake, I got _spanked_." Elsa finally said, sharply. "I embarrassed Papa in front of the council, destroying the all the effort he'd put in. It was immature, and idiotic of me to do so; he _had _to punish me somehow."

Anna looked like she'd grown another head. "Why are you so hard on yourself? You were a baby!"

"I was five. Perfectly old enough to know that what I was doing was wrong." Elsa said calmly, but the frost growing on her hands said otherwise. If Anna noticed it, she said nothing, her hand still clasped around her sister's.

"That's absolutely insane." Anna snorted, shaking her head. "What did Mama have to say about all this?"

"I really don't think—"

"You've already started spilling your guts, don't stop now!" Anna cried out, clutching at Elsa's hand harder than before. "Talk to me, Elsa. I just spent thirteen years being shut out. You _owe_ me this!"

Something flashed in the queen's eyes, something a lot like anger. "_I_ owe you _nothing_. You know what Mama had to say? She didn't care. She was too busy with _you_."

"…what do you mean?" Anna's voice was quiet now, straining slightly. Elsa felt a pang, realizing her sister was close to tears.

She hung her head, running her hand her face. "You know Mama liked you better. You were her baby, and I became the _other_ daughter. The cursed one."

Anna blinked, squeezing Elsa's hand tightly. "Mama loved you just as much as she loved me."

"Perhaps, but I don't believe it." The queen confessed, her voice unconcerned, as though she'd accepted the fact long ago. "Once you came along, things changed. No longer was I of immediate importance, and that's difficult for a child to comprehend."

"But I—"

"Papa had promised to teach me, and Mama had said she'd watch but…they forgot. So, I tried to ride my bicycle without help. I couldn't…I fell into a fountain, and I was so angry, I wanted…I stood over you while you slept, and I was going to _hurt_ you with this _curse_." Mortified, guilty, and upset in herself, Elsa felt the tears pulsate behind her eyes, threatening to spill.

"I remember that." Anna's voice pulled the queen out of her misery, and she looked up, shocked.

"You—What—That's impossible!" Elsa spluttered in her own disbelief, staring at her sister's wide eyes. "You were _two_!"

"I don't mean I really, _really_ remember it!" Anna hurried on to say, clutching Elsa's hand to her heart. "I just, it's my earliest memory. It's kinda fuzzy, you know, because I think I was so young. Maybe I'm wrong and it's different, but I sort of think I had just woken up, I'm seeing you, through the bars of my crib. And your hands were blue, with the magic, and…I'm not sure how, but I think I went back to sleep, and you were there with me."

Elsa stared at her sister. She stared at her, as though waiting for something to happen. One of her most painful memories, the idea that she had willingly wanted to hurt Anna (even in a child's fit of jealousy), was nothing more than a fleeting glimpse of a simpler time for her sister. She wasn't even sure what to say in response.

Thankfully, Anna never had a problem with her speech. "It's one of my favorite memories. You were always looking out for me; you were such a good big sister."

"N-No." Elsa choked out. "No, Anna, I wasn't. I'm not. I tried to hurt you…I _did_ hurt you. I shut you out, I didn't build snowmen with you, I told you 'no' when you want to marry…and I ended up _freezing_ you."

"I'm not going to lie, yes, that was all hard, on _both_ of us," Anna started, squeezing Elsa's hand so hard she thought her sister would freeze her to stop, "But you're my big sister, Elsa. You're all I've got, since Mama and Papa…I'll fight snow-monsters, stupid-side-burned-princes, and shut doors if it means I get to be with you."

Anna gave a wet laugh, shaking her head. Elsa said nothing. Unsure of what to do, the princess sped on, trying to relieve the awkwardness of the whole situation.

"Yeah, but you know what? Please don't make all that a habit, because it's kinda hard for me to like, keep punching, you know? 'Cause like, I might break my hand if I keep on—oh!"

Without warning, Anna's hand was finally released from her sister's hold was pulled into a hug, the second one of that day. Elsa's arms were wound tightly against her, and she could hear the distinct sound of her sister sniffling. Slowly, she hugged her sister back, and they stayed in that position, wrapped in each other's embrace for what seemed like ever.

Finally, it was Elsa who started to let go. She said nothing, smiling with a tear stained face. She brushed back Anna's hair, giving a wet laugh that sounded remarkably just like her younger sister's.

"Oh, Anna. You're amazing." Elsa managed, and her sister grinned at her, that same smile she'd carried since she was a baby.

"I know, I love you too." Anna's nose crinkled, smiling happily. She understood more than anyone that it was still hard for the queen to really put forward her feelings. So for now, she'd do it for the both of them. "Hey, speaking of amazing, you know what sounds good right now? Some of that chocolate!"

She leaned over, grabbing the small box from a bedside table. She quickly ripped off the top. Her eager fingers were just about to start picking out candies, when the box was snatched from her.

"Hey!" She looked up in surprise, to see Elsa grinning impishly at her.

"'Hey' yourself." She laughed, despite Anna's pout. "You said that if I let you teach me to ride a bicycle, I would get the _imported_ chocolate."

Anna's eyes widened in disbelief, while her face twisted into a pout. "You're not gonna share?"

"You said I wouldn't _have_ to share, if I let you teach me to ride. Remember?" Elsa laughed again as Anna's face fell, as though she suddenly remembered her own words.

"But—But…"

The queen looked down at her chocolate, before frowning at the missing three pieces. "Anna, did you start eating my chocolate?"

"Um…no?" Anna tried, trying to look innocent, but ending up looking guiltier than ever. Elsa raised a dangerous brow, and her sister broke down under her. "Okay, it wasn't my fault! I was stressed! The physician didn't let me stay while he was stitching you up because I was "a distraction", and Kristoff dragged me out, and I needed something to keep me from going insane!"

"Well," Elsa sighed, but with a half smile, "so long as you've already started eating at my chocolate, I see no reason we can't share."

Anna squealed in delight, her eyes shining. "Oh my gosh, really?" She didn't wait for confirmation, immediately grabbing a handful of the chocolates and shoving them into her mouth. "Sow arwe you gowna riwde yowr bike agawin?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full," The queen put mildly, taking one chocolate into her hand. "And yes, I think I will. You are right, in that I never stop once I've started something."

"Oh," finally swallowing, Anna nodded, thinking hard. "Well, I promise that next time I'll actually hold on."

"Absolutely not." Elsa said, firmly. "I rode my bicycle all by myself. I don't need you to continue on holding."

"Yeah but," Anna grabbed another handful, and Elsa warily realized that the only piece left was now in her hand. "You fell. And cut your forehead."

Elsa shrugged, holding up her pale hand, stroking her thumb over the slightly raised skin. "I also sliced my palm, the first time I tried to ride a bicycle. Perhaps it's simply tradition."

Anna squinted her eyes, leaning in closer to Elsa's hand. "Huh. So that's where that scar came from. I always thought you were born with it, or something. Speaking of born—are you going to eat that chocolate?"

"That doesn't even make…" Elsa sighed, wanting to shake her head, but knowing full well that her headache still lingered in the back of her mind. "Never mind," she said, popping the last piece of chocolate in her mouth.

"I thought you were going to share!" Anna cried out, almost hurt in an overly dramatic sense.

Elsa raised an eyebrow, looking down at her now empty box of chocolate. Anna followed her gaze, before her blue eyes went wide. She smiled sheepishly, laughing nervously.

"Uh…sorry. Stress, remember?"

Elsa regarded her sister for a moment, before swallowing her piece of chocolate and setting the empty box on the bedside stand. "I forgot to ask; is Olaf alright? He did faint as well, correct?"

"Olaf!" Anna hit her forehead, groaning as she suddenly remembered the snowman. "Shoot! We forgot all about him!"

"You forgot about Olaf?" Elsa wondered, slightly concerned now. Anna winced, nodding.

"Well, you were hurt _and_ unconscious, and uh, we sort of focused on you. My bad." Still wincing at her move, Anna shook her head. "I should've told Kristoff to see if he was alright after I was let back in."

"Why don't you go see to him now?" The queen wondered, warily as she picked at the suddenly scratchy infirmary blankets. She made a mental note to have them replaced with something more comfortable, for when Anna eventually became hurt and landed here as well.

Anna looked guilty suddenly, almost torn. "Yeah, see, I can't do that, I'm already on thin ice—whoops, that was an unintentional pun. It took me long enough to convince the physician to let you sleep in your _own_ room tonight, instead of in here, and I had to _swear_ that I wouldn't leave you alone, not even for a second, just in case, you know? So basically, sleepover tonight!"

"Ah, I see." Elsa said, sighing, but seeing the logic behind it. "But I'm going to bed early. I still have work to do tomorrow, since I naturally assume I won't be getting to any of it today."

"Fine." Anna sulked, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm not going to be happy about it though!"

A smile tugged on the corner of Elsa's lips again. "I wouldn't assume you would be. Do you want to know something interesting?"

"What _kind_ of interesting?" Anna questioned slowly, sure that her definition of the word was much different then her queen/sister's.

Elsa leaned forward, a smug smile crossing her lips, as she said in a confidential, very serious voice, "I'm almost positive that I flew over the handlebars of my bicycle for a good fifteen minutes."


	6. Chapter 6

**And…it's done! Took me all of spring break to complete, and a complete slacking of my other stories to do so. Still, I'm glad I got this little plot bunny out of my head. It was a fun, if not tiresome, story to complete. I'm glad I was able to do it!**

**Thanks to Moboy1, Axantur, xJadeRainx, Guest, Jenny, lightning1997, Alese222, Ravager Zero, castlejune, Bluefire407, FlashFreeze0, snoopykid, Sliced13 for the reviews!**

**REVIEW**

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"Your Majesty!"

Various voices and chairs pushed back were the soundtrack to Elsa's morning. Papers were shuffled, and she was bowed to with mumbles of how she was looking well this morning. She nodded slightly, acknowledging the councilmen, as she strode confidently to her seat at the head of the table.

"Gentlemen," she said as she slipped into her seat, hands clasped in front of her. "I believe the first item on the agenda is the trade report on imports from Elsemaine?"

There was a silence to her question. With a furrowed brow, she lifted her gaze to see all the men, all the members of her council staring at her. She pressed her lips together and ran her tongue over her teeth, determining that there was nothing in them.

She took in a calming breath, before asking, "Is something the matter?"

They continued their staring. She resisted the urge to tug at her long braid, which had not been pulled back into its usual bun today due to the minor headache she still suffered. Had she pronounced something wrong then?

"Majesty, forgive me, but…is that a bandage, across your forehead?" Someone finally said, and there were murmurs of agreement from around him.

Elsa frowned, her fingers immediately lifting to feel the medical piece across her forehead. She'd made sure to scrub out her bloodied hair the night before, despite the difficulty of not being allowed to get the bandage wet. She'd also made sure to brush her bangs directly _over_ the medical piece, as her sister suggested.

"_It's hardly noticeable, no one is even going to think you hit your head!"_

The queen bit back a scowl at the memory of her sister's words that morning. Hardly noticeable, indeed. The princess's nose could have grown like a puppet's at her lies.

A muffled laugh caught Elsa off guard. Here head snapped up, eyes focusing on the curtains across the room. A slight rustle from one of them confirmed what she'd assumed; Anna had snuck in beforehand, and was currently hiding.

"Majesty?" An uncertain voice questioned, and Elsa ripped her eyes away from her sister, and back to her council.

"Forgive me, the question caused a rush in memories." She smoothly explained away. "In response to it, yes, my forehead was bandaged yesterday, due to the stitches I acquired."

"…but _how_, your majesty?"

Another muffled laugh. Elsa dug her nails into her palm to keep from shooting a blast of cold air towards her sister. "The princess attempted to teach me how to ride a bicycle, and I fell, yesterday afternoon. I assume this," she motioned to her forehead, "would not have happened, had she not broken her promise of not letting go of me."

There was an affronted gasp. The men whirled their heads around, hearing it, but not quite sure where it came from. Elsa did not move a muscle, pretending not to have heard it. Inwardly, however, she knew later on she'd be getting a strong argument to her logic.

"Ah. I hope the fall was not too serious and a lesson, Queen Elsa." One of her men said, and the queen heard a distinct layer of admonishment behind his words.

She nodded thoughtfully, biting back a sharp retort that she could damn well do what she wanted at the age of twenty-one. "I should say that it was quite the important teaching, sir. I know now that my father was correct, in that safety is key and wearing a helmet is not the worst thing in the world, for the next time I ride my bicycle."

The man jerked, surprised at her response. "N-Next time?"

A muffled laugh made her lips creak upwards slightly. She was convinced that she was doing things well. "Of course. I was doing quite well, before I went over the handlebars. Don't you agree, sir, that quitting should not be an option?"

"Uh…" She'd caught the man off guard, and he stuttered through. "Y-Yes, your majesty, of course."

Elsa nodded once more, about to move on, when she her thoughts took on a different direction. Something still nagged at her, something she'd never quite figured out, or asked about for that matter. Unsure, she decided to put forward her own question.

"Many of you served my father, the king, for multiple years, correct?" She waited a moment, pressing her thumbs into themselves in nervousness, as she listened to the wary murmurs of 'yes'. "He had a betrothal arranged for me, when I was younger, I know, but it was…terminated, accidently. Did he…Why did he never pursue another agreement?"

There was a tense silence now. She realized that many of them were probably not around when she was a child, and if they were, why would they remember? It was silly of her to bring up that old nonsense. It didn't mean anything, why should she be—

"From what I gathered about the situation, majesty, the king decided the matter of betrothing you to another was not worth the late queen's fury." One voice mentioned, and Elsa looked up, her mask melting away with confusion.

"Mama knew about the agreement?" Her voice was straining, and higher pitched than it normally would be.

She heard some of the men shift awkwardly. She knew, suddenly, that it was odd for them to see her in this role. They thought of her as the queen, not as the just out of her teens, orphaned young woman.

The older gentleman nodded to her question, having served her father for years. "The late queen was always very much against decisions made in the best interest in the crown regarding your majesty, or the princess's, upbringing. I suppose she simply had a tender heart; regardless, the king did not believe it wise, and he ignored any other attempts."

Somewhere in the room, Elsa heard the softest of gasps. She assumed she wouldn't have heard it if she wasn't so stunned. She'd never even considered that her mother would have actually cared enough about her to butt heads with her father, and in a larger way, the crown.

"Well then," she struggled to get her voice under control, trying not to let on how much her head was spinning.

She looked up slightly to see a blue eye peeking out from the curtain, and half a smile. A thumbs up in her direction, and suddenly, Elsa found herself a lot less lost. In fact, she found her lips twitching, as though wanting to smile.

No matter what, Anna would always have her back. Though her sister managed to aggravate all her nerves at once, almost daily, she managed to brighten up her days. Just like Anna would go to war for her, she'd freeze anyone for her sister.

_And while I'm at it_, Elsa thought with a smirk to herself, _I'll teach my little sister not to break her promises_. "Let's start on the trade report with Elsemaine. We're currently taxing their imports at a rate of 4.3%, and they are requesting a slight reprieve, with a new percentage of 3.7%, if I'm not mistaken."

That opened the floodgates. Suddenly there was a discussion to be had, and every one person had an opinion on the matter. Elsa put on a polite face, pretending to listen, but really, she was more interested in the figure slumped against the curtain.

She'd trapped her sister now, until who knew when. Anna's one blue eye looked panicked, as though she was just realizing this as well. And Elsa couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard a muffled groan.


End file.
